Our busy life with an amazing veterinarian and cattleman, a gardening, quilting and history loving wife and mother, a creative perfectionist violinist, a spunky and kind epileptic princess, a sweet yet wild little man, and the most mellow and happy babe, on a joyful 1/2 acre living and loving in a beautiful mountain valley.

THE Natalia of Piece N Quilt who is now a published quilting author, national award winner, pattern designer, quilting magazine contributor, and on and on and on. She is incredible.

And so now I think I'm awesome because she made some of these blocks with my friend Jen and I when she was just starting this wonderful time and money sucking hobby!

She has built an amazing business and career with her quilting talents and I'm still trying to find enough time to piece together quilt tops!

But its good, its what I can handle.

So, thanks Jen and Natalia! Its finally finished!

Last winter at one of our guild meetings my friend and neighbor Debbie gave a fun fun lesson on log cabin quilts. I have always loved the pattern of log cabin quilts, and I've always wanted to make one, so Debbie gave me the inspiration to finally get busy.

I pieced all the blocks together last winter and I couldn't decide which layout I wanted to go with, so I put them all away.﻿

I got them out last week and sewed them up in theStreak of Lightning arrangement and I really like it. I love traditional quilts in boring deep, dark colors, so this is perfect for me!

These pictures were from quilt guild last week with crazy lighting, and the picture below is crazy lighting in my bedroom. The real colors are something in between.

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I made it plenty big!

Now I need to get a backing ready, and then I'll have another quilt to bind in no time.

Sunday, October 05, 2014

I put a shirt on little Kenna today that Kelsey used to wear when she was two years old. I swear that was just a few months ago.

Its so cliché, but where has the time gone?

These two pictures were taken exactly one year ago, to the day.

And here she is a month ago.

So much growth in just a year. Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, socially, in every way.

Holding her chubby little hand years ago melted my heart. Everyone loved this cute little social bug girl of mine from the very beginning.

We used to go to the grocery store and she was so friendly with everyone. When we passed another mom and daughter duo shopping she used to say "Mom, look at that pretty girl. She's my friend!" Even though had never met them. She has always been a social little butterfly, full of compassion, smarts, and laughs.

She still melts my heart.

When I see her longs legs spread out on her bed as she sleeps, when we laugh at her morning hair, when she comes home with the highest midterm score in her honors science class, when she sits down at my sewing machine to make her cat a bed, when she helps me in the kitchen with dinner, when she reads Kenna a Dora book that I used to read to her, when I find crazy-faced selfies of her on my phone, when she sings in the shower, when she accepts her fate of watching the kids with a smile while I run an errand, and even when she suggests I change my shirt into something nicer, she melts my heart.

Sometimes I get too caught up in mourning that the summer is over so much that I miss the beauties of the fall season. Sometimes I get so caught up in missing my little Kelsey girl that I forget she is still here and mine to enjoy.

And I do enjoy her. So so much.

She is growing up, but she is growing into a pretty incredible person, and I am lucky.

And, just a little photographic evidence of the 162 or more crazy girl photos I get to find on my phone.

Monday, September 29, 2014

I planted a Canadice seedless grape about 6 years ago by an awesome arbor my brother in law welded for me as a birthday gift. Its a gorgeous arbor, but I was so excited for this new grape vine to cover it. It would just look so so cool.

Well, the grape struggled for a few years there by the arbor; only getting a foot or so tall and never really even touching the bottom rung of the arbor.

So I dug it up and moved it. I replanted it right by the deck. Same sun situation, just not so many kids tramping over it and a bit more water. Last year it did so great. It grew along the deck railing and was so so lush and pretty.

This year its really happy. REALLY happy.

Its so happy that it gave me grapes! There are about 10 of these clusters of grapes on my grape vine this year. I just tasted one. They still need a little more time I think, but the flavor is so strong and delicious, its like chugging grape jelly! And who doesn't like grape jelly? Oh, especially with some peanut butter and wheat bread!

Anyway, I am glad my grape is so happy. I did send my brother in law a photo and asked him to weld me something for next year so we can get on the deck without being attacked by the foliage. We live in an alpine valley where grapes are not something that really grows well here. So, my grape vine thinks it is pretty cool.

There is so much fall yard work to do, but how am I supposed to mow the lawn with a distraction like this?

For some strange reason, the sandbox is a hot spot in the spring and the fall.

But not in the summer.

My kids hardly touch the sandbox in July and August.

I can't get them out of it in the spring and the fall.

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My floor is constantly gritty from their sandy little bodies returning to eat dinner that I ACTUALLY cooked after they have spent time in the sandbox making mermaids out of themselves for hours before we eat. I actually made them strip down in the garage last night before they came in.

There was a nice pile of sand on the concrete.

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So, here is to more scouring baths and an enjoyable fall.

I am trying to not miss summer, but still, oh how I miss it already!

One funny thing today:

Emmitt and I were picking our raspberries and putting them in a colander. He is my fruit bat and eats more fruit than all my kids combined. He loves it.

After he picked a rather nice juicy red handful he said "I just love the dark red raspberries. They are like flavor bombs in my mouth."

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

I grew up in a pretty small town in a pretty remote part of Utah. When my great grandpa George Alvin Chappell lived there at the turn of the century, it was even more remote. The largest town is 60 miles away to the west. There isn't much to the north, south, or east for about 100 miles.

One day, a loooooooong time ago, a fellow came to town peddling apple tree seedlings. Two families bought them in town. The George Alvin Chappell family and the Eric Torgerson family.

George planted them in a pasture close to where the irrigation ditch cut through the pasture.

His son Glen eventually purchased that pasture, and then his son Marion eventually bought that pasture.

Marion remembers sitting in those apples trees with a salt shaker enjoying those apples. So does his daughter, Rachel. ME. But I vividly remember hearing the one and only Johnny Appleseed was the one that came peddling apple tree seedlings!

My dad is always full of stories!

On Labor Day, my sweet kids, my dad, and I picked a few buckets of those apples planted by George Alvin Chappell more than a hundred years ago.

Today, Emmitt and I made applesauce with those apples.

It was a great morning together with my boy.

It was fun for him to see the process of how applesauce is made.

It was fun to have his help. He loved peeling the apples and he loved mooshing the apples through the old fashioned food processor. But most of all, he loved eating the warm, delicious applesauce.

He kept telling me to add more sugar and cinnamon, silly boy.

It was a good day. A busy day.

I also got a good hold of this monstrosity of a shrub and took some pruners to it.

Vanhoutte Spirea is also called BRIDALWREATH because when it flowers, the white flowers flow downwards like a waterfall and I guess that looks like a bridal wreath.

It is an old variety of shrub. It was popular in the Midwest.

I can just imagine a Nebraska farmhouse a hundred years ago with this shrub in the yard.

Native Americans used it to treat venereal diseases and a tea of spirea helped with abdominal pain. I would imagine some young brides had a handful of it for their mid-summer weddings as well.

I guess I've had a bit of a nostalgic day.

I think I better go sew for a bit this evening and enjoy my nostalgia.

Anyway, my shrub looks much better than this now, and I found the long lost strawberry patch under all those branches I trimmed away.